Safety razor



July 6, 1937. E. R. WHARTON n 2,086,343

' SAFETY RAZOR Filed Aug. 8, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JUUULIU u 1 135 50 /927 Figli. 25 Z6 l F555. EL/

July 6, 1937. E. R.l WHARToN l I 2,086,343

SAFETY RAZOR FldAug. 8, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 6, 1937UNITED STATS ATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

My invention relates to safety razors and it has for its object toprovide an improved device of this kind and especially to improve theconstruction of safety razors of the type shown and described in myPatent No. 1,984,243, granted December 11, 1934.

To this end I have provided a safety razor having the peculiar featuresof construction and mode of operation set forth in the followingdescription, the several novel features of the invention beingseparately pointed out and dened in the claims at the close thereof.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an enlarged elevation, partly broken away and in section, ofa safety razor constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the safety razor shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is an elevation of the upper portion of the razor shown in Fig.l as viewed from one side of the latter.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the outer section of the rotatablespindle-actuating member hereinafter described.

Figure 6 is an elevation of the inner section of the rotatablespindle-actuating member hereinafter described.

Figure '7 is an elevation of the spindle hereinafter described.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of one of the bladeflexing levershereinafter described.

Figure 9 is a top plan view of the guard of the razor shown in Fig. 1with the blade-flexing levers omitted.

Figure 10 is a sectional view of the parts at ,the upper end of Fig. 4but with a blade in position on the guard and held in transversely bentcondition bythe blade-exing levers.

Figure 11 is a View of a blade for use as a part of my improved razor.

Figure l2 is an enlarged elevation, partly in section, of a safety razorembodying an alternative form of my invention.

Figure 13 is a top plan view of the razor shown in Fig. 12.

Figure 14 is an elevation of the upper portion of the razor shown inFig. 12 as viewed from one side of the latter.

Figure 15 is a sectional detail showing the bottom side of the guard.

Figures 16 and 17 are details of the lever-actuating spindle of therazor shown in Fig. 12.

Figure 18 is a section on line Iii-I9 of Fig. 12.

(ci. :io-74.1)

Figure 19 is a top plan view of one of the bladeholding levers of therazor shown in Fig. l2.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. l to 11,inclusive, I0 is the vguard which is provided upon its back with a rigidperpendicular tubular handle II within which is disposed an endwisemovable spindle I2. The handle II may, as shown, consist mainly of ametal tube tele-r scopically and forcibly tted at its inner end upon atubular boss I3 Ythat 'is an integral part of the guard` I0 and withinwhich the upper portion of the spindle is slidably mounted.

The upper portion of the guard I0 is a platelike structure formed ateach end thereof with a pair of recesses I4 and at its middle with atransverse slot I5, Fig. 9, for the reception therein of the aperturedhubs of two levers I1, Figs. 3, 4, 8 and 10, saidhubs being pivotallyconnected with the guard by pintles I8 extending through the aperturesof the hubs and also through aper- 20 tures I6, Fig. 9, formedlongitudinally through the guard. Each lever II is made upon itsunderside with three hubs, one at its middle and one at each end thereof,andv upon its top with a longitudinal row of hooks I9 which project be-25 yond the guard and also face outwardly toward the adjacentface-engaging side of the guard.

The body portion 20 of each lever I'I is of bar-like form and extendsfrom end to end of the guard, being disposed between its pintle I 8 andthe longitudinal median line of the guard as viewed in plan, Fig. 2.Thus the body portion t provides an armor heel to co-operatewith theinner face of the blade of the razor, Figs. 10 and il, asin my abovementioned patent. 35

Near its middle each lever yII is made with'an arm 2l whose freeendoccupies a recess 22, Figs. 4 and 7, formed in one side of thespindle I2, Ythe latter being formed with two oppositely'disposedrecesses 22, one upon one side of the spindle that is occupied by thearm 2| of one lever and the other upon the opposite side of the spindlewhich is occupied by the arm 2l of the other lever.

The upper and lower'side walls of each recess 22 provide abutmentshoulders which act through its arm 2I to swing the lever, of which thesaid arm forms part, on its fulcrum pintle I8 when the spindle I2 ismoved endwise. It will also be observed that the engagement of the arms2| with the flat bottom walls of the recesses 22 holds 5() the spindleagainst rotation so that it can only move endwise.

The inner end portion of the spindle I6 is threaded and telescopicallyassociated with a spindle-actuating member herein Vshown as com- 55prising an inner' nut section or element 23, Figs. 1, 4 and 6, havingthreaded engagement with the threaded portion of the spindle and anouter linger-piece section or element 24, Fig. 5.

The outer end portion of the inner section 23 is made of reduceddiameter to provide a stem 25, Fig. 6, which extends loosely through asmooth bore formed axially through the outer section 24, the outer endportion of said stem being threaded to receive upon it a nut 26 by whichsaid section 24 is clamped rigidly against a pair of radial shoulders 2lprovided at opposite sides of the stem 25, as shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in Fig. 4, the retaining nut 26 is provided upon its outer sidewith holes 28 for reception of the prongs of a Spanner wrench by meansof which the nut is applied to and removed from the stem 25.

The inner end of the finger-piece section 24 is made with a pair oioppositely disposed lugs 29, Fig. 5, whose proximate faces are at andparallel and t flatwise against a pair of oppositely disposed flatsurfaces 39, Figs. 1 and 6, provided on stem 25 thus positivelyinterlocking the two sections of the spindle-actuating member so thatthey cannot rotate relatively but can be separated when nut 2E isremoved.

' Between the ends of lugs 29 and a conical shoulder 3! provided uponthe exterior of the inner section 23 immediately adjacent to itsjunction with the stem 25, the interior of the tubular handle II is madewith an annular rib 32 whose opposite sides are beveled, as shown inFigs. 1 and 4, and serve as abutments for engagement with the shoulderv3i and with the inner beveled ends of the lugs 29 so as to preventendwise movement of the spindle-actuating member while permitting thesame to rotate freely.

It will thus be clear that normally rotation of finger-piece section 24imparts rotary motion to the inner section 23 which, in turn, moves thespindle I2 endwise. Also, that endwise movement thus imparted to thespindle in either direction acts positively through the arms 2| to swingthe levers I'I simultaneously in opposite directions on their fulcrumpintles I 8. This construction dispenses with the use of the spring 22of my patent above mentioned and provides for positive actuation of theblade-engaging levers in both directions.

The blade I9I, Figs. 10 and 11, is a thin ilexible piece of sheet steelthat is slightly longer than guard I0 and somewhat narrower, the twoopposite longitudinal side marginal portions thereof having sharpenedparallel cutting edges adjacent to and parallel with each of which is alongitudinal row of holes 33. The holes 33 of each row arerelativelyspaced apart the same as the hooks I9 of either one of thelevers II and each hole is made of a size and shape to permit thepassage therethrough of the head of one of said hooks.

When the spindle I2 is at the limit of its inward movement the heels 20of the levers I'I are against the outer face of the guard and the hooksI9 are positioned so as to register with the holes 33 of the blade andthe latter can be placed upon the guard with each hook extending throughone of the holes of the blade.

After the blade is placed upon the guard as just described thespindle-actuating member of the handle is rotated in a right-handdirection and acts to shove spindle I2 outwardly and the latter acts onarms 2| to swing the rows of hooks on levers I'I outwardly, away fromeach other. During the first part of this movement of the levers thenose of each hook is caused to overlie the outer marginal portion of theblade immediately adjacent to its hole 23 and then, during the latterpart of this movement, the heels 20 of the levers are swung intoengagement with the inner face of the middle zone of the blade so as tobend said middle zone away from the guard as shown in Fig. 10 while theopposite side marginal portions of the blade are held by hooks I9 withthe result that said side marginal portions are swung downwardly towardthe guard IIJ.

The opposite side marginal portions of the guard are curved or roundedaway from the cutting edges of the blade and each is formed throughoutits length with teeth alternating with slots. Just inside of each row ofslots the guard is formed upon its top side with a longitudinal channelor trough 34 which serves to catch and hold the lather that is scrapedfrom the face by the blade.

Each channel or trough 34 is bordered upon its inner side by anup-standing straight-edge or shoulder 35 which serves as a stop to limitthe approach of the proximate cutting edge of the blade toward the guardand which also co-operates with the hooks of the adjacent lever I'I tohold the edge portion of the blade straight longitudinally.

The embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs 12 to 19, inclusive,is provided with a guard I lia at and integral with one end of a tubularhandle IIa, within which is slidably mounted the lever-operating spindleI 2a, Figs. 12, 16 and 17, whose outer end is co-operatively associatedwith the arms 2 Ia of the blade-holding and flexing levers I'Ia. v

The inner threaded end portion of the spindle I2a is telescopicallyassociated with the interiorly threaded inner end of a single tubularspindleactuating member 36 that is rotatably mounted within the tubularhandle IIa and held against endwise displacement therein by twospherical locking elements 3'I occupying radial apertures 38 formedthrough the cylindrical wall of member 35, one at each side of the axisthereof. Normally the locking members 31 are held apart by ing out thescrew 40 member 36 is unlocked and may be removed.

The part of the member 36 which extends bcyond the handle IIa isconstructed as a fingerhold 4I.

As shown in Fig. 15 the guard I0a is con- "i structed, as in my patentabove mentioned, with two parallel slots 42 that are occupied by theelongate hubs 43, Fig. 18, of the levers I'Ia one of which latter isshown in plan in Fig. 20. Each i hub 43 extends from end to end of itsslot.

What I claim is: 1. In a safety razor, the combination with a flexibleblade having opposite side cutting edges and formed with two rows ofapertures each of 1 which is disposed adjacent to one of said sidecutting edges, of a holder for said blade comprising a rigid guardprovided upon its back side with a handle including a manuallyadjustable element as a part thereof; blade-holding mechanismpermanently and adjustably mounted on said guard having parts thereofextending through said apertures, and means through which adjustment ofsaid element in either direction acts to positively adjust saidmechanism and blade.

2. In a safety razor, the combination with a flexible blade havingopposite side cutting edges and formed with two rows of apertures eachof which is disposed adjacent to one of said side cutting edges, of aholder for said blade comprising a rigid guard provided upon its backside with a handle including a manually adjustable element as a partthereof; blade-holding mechanism permanently and adjustably mounted onsaid guard having parts thereof extending through said apertures, andmeans through which adjustment of said element in one direction acts topositively adjust said mechanism so as to flex the blade in onedirection and adjustment thereof in the opposite direction acts topositively adjust said mechanism so as to flex the blade in the oppositedirection.

3. A safety razor constructed in accordance with claim l wherein saidelement consists of 'a threaded non-rotatable endwise movable spindlesupported within said handle; a manually operable nut member rotatablysupported within said handle and telescopically engaging said spindle,and means for holding said nut member against axial movement in eitherdirection relatively to said handle.

4. A safety razor constructed in accordance with claim l wherein saidelement consists of a threaded non-rotatable endwise movable spindlesupported within said handle; a manually operable nut member rotatablysupported within said handle and telescopically engaging said spindleand means removably securing said nut member within said handle and forholding it against axial movement in either direction relativelythereto.

5. A safety razor constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidelement consists of a threaded non-rotatable endwise movable spindlesupported within said handle and which also includes an operating memberfor said spindle comprising an inner nut section rotatably mountedwithin said handle and telescopically engaging said spindle, the outerportion of said nut member being made with an annular shoulder abuttinga complementary annular shoulder provided upon the interior of thehandle to hold said nut member against endwise movement in onedirection, and also comprising an outer nger-piece section xedlyconnected with the outer end of said inner section and abutting acomplementary shoulder on said handle to hold said inner section againstendwise movement lin the opposite direction.

6. A safety razor constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidelement consists of a threaded non-rotatable endwise movable spindlesupported within said handle and which also includes a spindle operatingnut member rotatably mounted within said handle and telesccpicallyengaging said spindle, said nut member being made with a radial holedisposed opposite an annular groove provided upon the interior of saidhandle; a locking element movably mounted within said hole, and anaxially adjustable wedge member carried by said nut member and engag-ling said locking element to hold the same partly within said groove sothat said element prevents axial movement of said nut member relativelyto said handle.

'7. A safety razor of the class described, having a blade-holdercomprising a rigid guard provided upon its back side with a handle; anendwise movable lever-operating spindle supported within said handle;means for moving said spindle endwise, and a pairV of blade engaginglevers pivotallyand permanently mounted on said guard each of which ismade with an arrn for engagement with said spindle, the arm of one leveroccupying a recess formed in one side of said spindle and the arm of theother lever occupying a recess formed in the opposite side of saidspindle and both arms being co-operatively disposed with relation toshoulders provided on said spindle so that endwise movement of thelatter in either direction acts through said shoulders and said arms toswing said levers in opposite directions.

8. A safety razor of the class described constructed in accordance withclaim '7 wherein said arms embrace said spindle so as to hold the latteragainst rotation.

EDWARD R. WHARTON.

